Yes, no matter how they try they can't Improve on the originals.....In my humble opinion.

I wish they wouldn't try. In the Shadow's case for instance he was nearly a completely different character. He was supposed to be tall, thin with a prominent nose. I would have cast Liam Niesen (probably mispelled) or perhaps Brent Spiner. Certainly not pretty boy Alex Baldwin. To counter that they invented an ugly alter ego that supposedly came out when he used his powers. But that was just silly. Did anyone watching the movie get the idea that he could become invisible? It seemed like a side note.

Yes sadly, there is no telling what they do with the Green Hornet. If I were making it, I would make it a period piece and set it in the 30's like the radio show. He belongs in the age of gangsters, racketeering and powerful newpapers. I guess we'll see what happens?

I totally agree! It doesn't belong in this high tech age. I hate to see them ruin it too, which there certain to do. I think they totally ruined the character in The Shadow. They might as well named the character anything else because it certainly wasn't The Shadow

Yes, no matter how they try they can't Improve on the originals.....In my humble opinion.

I wish they wouldn't try. In the Shadow's case for instance he was nearly a completely different character. He was supposed to be tall, thin with a prominent nose. I would have cast Liam Niesen (probably mispelled) or perhaps Brent Spiner. Certainly not pretty boy Alex Baldwin. To counter that they invented an ugly alter ego that supposedly came out when he used his powers. But that was just silly. Did anyone watching the movie get the idea that he could become invisible? It seemed like a side note.

Yes sadly, there is no telling what they do with the Green Hornet. If I were making it, I would make it a period piece and set it in the 30's like the radio show. He belongs in the age of gangsters, racketeering and powerful newpapers. I guess we'll see what happens?

I think you're right. Brent Spiner would have been great in that part.

Yes, no matter how they try they can't Improve on the originals.....In my humble opinion.

Look how many movies it took for them to get Batman at least watchable. Two awful movie serials (although I liked Lewis Wilson as Bruce Wayne)

The 1966 mockery. Then came the two Tim Burton films which cast Michael Keaton as the caped crusader. (the worst casting in history in my opinion.

But then came Val Kilmer (not much better) and that God awful George Clooney movie which should taken to the nearest nuclear storage facility and encased in plutonium so it won't be able to seen for a 100,000 years.

Finally two good films with Christian Bale but still they feel compelled to put him in that silly rubber frog man suit which is impossible to move or fight in. Why? They never do that to Superman!

So really I am still waiting for the perfect Batman film.

Now in defense of the original 1943 Batman serial with Lewis Wilson. True they made it for buck fifty and Batman's cowl looks like a flower sack with ears, plus it has that disgusting racism you have to over look.

But here is what I liked about it.
1. Batman's utility belt was gold in color like it is supposed to be. Not yellow plastic.
2. Alfred is thin, dark haired, balding with pencil moustache
3. Batman is a master of disguise. He uses it several times in the serial. Whatever happened to that idea? Once as a gangster named Chuck White he infiltrates the gang. He later gets unmasked but is still in disguise and they say 'It's Chuck White!"
4. Batman the scientist is depicted as he has his own crime lab in the Batcave.
5. The entrance to the batcave is through the grandfather clock just like the comics.
6. Batman and Robin are wanted by the police as vigilantes as they should be.

Ok glad I found a place to get all of that off my chest.

My point is once again there is no telling what we will see with The Green Hornet. Better take two aspirin before I go into the theater.

Later
Samuel Spulman
(author of "The Shadow of Simon Magus" www.amazon.com)

You have to keep in mind the times that were when the 1943 serial was made too. Remember we were at war with Japan as a result of their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. I don't imagine a lot of people had much sympathy for the japanese people in general at that point. I mean our gov. even went so far as to place its own citizens of Japanese descent into internment camps. The same thing can be said of some books, like Tom Sawyer for example. People object to Mr. Twain's writing all the time because of the words that are now considered racist, but such language was a normal part of the world at the time the story is set at and even when Mr. Twain wrote the book. Such things serve as a time capsule, a look back if you will, into the way the world was back then.

I think the 1966 Batman should be considered more spoof on the character than anything. It was played for pure camp. I liked the movies myself. Each generation or so seems to come up with its own interpretation of him. I did notice that it seems to be redone about every 20 yrs or so.

1943, 1966, 1988 Not quite an even 20 yrs between each new look but close.

Yes all that is certainly true. Well this was supposed to be a Green Hornet thread but I got off on a tangent there about Batman.

So let's discuss the Green Hornet. In my opinion he was easily the most realistic and believable of all the masked heroes.

For openers his entire costume consisted only of a mask. It was just a square piece of green cloth with eye holes and a Green Hornet symbol at the mouth area. It had two strings one across the top and one across the bottom which tied in the back.

The advantage of this is it could be put on and taken off very quickly. Unlike the elaborate costumes of the other super-heroes we love to see in the comics, which look great but are impractical in real life.

In the movie serial that I saw (I think there was more than one) they changed it to a cardboard mask. But it looked cool I will admit. Plus they gave him green gloves. Still the rest of his outfit was a simply black suit and hat. He could easily shed the mask and gloves and blend into a crowd that way.

Now when they made the 60's tv show (which I also loved) they decided to give him a green coat and hat and a plastic visor like mask. It looked cool on tv but was not really as practical as the original and simpler green mask.

The Green Hornet is the only hero who is a wanted outlaw. That too is a very realistic approach to crime fighting. It allow him to infiltrate the criminals more easily.

The Green Hornet was the first to use a suped up car I believe. Not quite sure which came first but I think the Black Beauty pre-dated the Batmobile by some years.

The best addition to the Green Hornet character from the tv series was the protrayal of Kato by Bruce Lee as not only his driver but also his body guard thanks to Bruce Lee's incredible Kung Fu abilities.

In the 80's Now comics released a
new Green Hornet comic. In this version they showed an old Britt Reid who was the 30's Green Hornet from these radio shows we are listening to and his nephew also named Britt Reid who was the 60's Green Hornet. They did a great job of depicting Van Williams.

Both of them are retired and in the story their nephew Paul takes up the mantle of the Green Hornet but gets killed on his first outing. So their other nephew Alan takes up the role.

I liked the multi-generational idea of the character. Plus they had a painting of the Lone Ranger hanging on their wall in the family mansion.

The story gave him a female Kato which I loved but they owners of the Green Hornet did not. They forced the writers to change it and that sort of ruined the series, which did not last very long after that.

But if they must bring the Green Hornet into modern times for the young audience I would like to see it done that way.

Ok just my two cents. At least we have these great radio shows to listen to. This is the first time I have heard them. Except for a cassette of an single show I sent for and owned. My thanks again for this site.

Later
Samuel Spulman
(author of "The Shadow of Simon Magus" www.amazon.com)

That's what's so great about this site. I grew up watching The Adventures of Superman, The Lone Ranger, Burns and Allen, Groucho on You Bet your Life and all the Marx Bros films, Jack Benny and so many others

Now I can finally hear all of these shows with all my old favorites in shows that are all new to me. It's wonderful.

My new favorite is listening to Orson Welles as Harry Lime from the Third Man film. The radio is much better than the film as he barely appears in that.

Thanks again for starting this site
Samuel Spulman
(author of "The Shadow of Simon Magus" www.amazon.com)

Well I did watch all the shows you mentioned Brad. I'm 38 actually. I can remember people complaining that the Looney Tunes were too violent and now look at what they have. Things like Power Rangers where the kids can't even tell what is real and what's fake. I also watched The lone ranger and The Cisco kid on tv as well. And who could ever forget Guy Williams as Zorro. Not to mention things like Voyage to the bottom of the sea, Emergency, Dragnet and Adam-12. Sometimes I wonder where all the good tv has gone.

Brad wrote:

I spent many a fine morning watching the "Super Friends" cartoon when I was a kid. All the superheros in one place and most of the villains too!

I must admit though that Batman with Adam West was my favorite show when I was young. I watched it every day without fail.

Another big one for me was the Spiderman cartoon from the 70's I believe. Also, the old black and white superman shows with George Reeves was a favorite of mine.

You and Charles and I are pretty close in age I think. We all probably remember watching these same shows. what a simple time it was being a child and not having to worry about anything except cartoons.

Well I did watch all the shows you mentioned Brad. I'm 38 actually. I can remember people complaining that the Looney Tunes were too violent and now look at what they have. Things like Power Rangers where the kids can't even tell what is real and what's fake. I also watched The lone ranger and The Cisco kid on tv as well. And who could ever forget Guy Williams as Zorro. Not to mention things like Voyage to the bottom of the sea, Emergency, Dragnet and Adam-12. Sometimes I wonder where all the good tv has gone.

Brad wrote:

I spent many a fine morning watching the "Super Friends" cartoon when I was a kid. All the superheros in one place and most of the villains too!

I must admit though that Batman with Adam West was my favorite show when I was young. I watched it every day without fail.

Another big one for me was the Spiderman cartoon from the 70's I believe. Also, the old black and white superman shows with George Reeves was a favorite of mine.

So many good shows back then. What fun that was.

Brad

Voyage to the bottom of the sea was great. I loved that show! Sea hunt was good too.

Yep, back then tv may not have been in its 'golden age' but at least there was something worth watching on the air. Now it's all 'reality shows' for the most part. If I want reality all I have to do is look out the window. Some classic shows are on DVD but they aren't always affordable. Who can afford to pay 50.00 per season for a tv program? You wonder how they manage to make a profit when shows are that expensive. Give me OTR any day. At least the shows are entertaining and don't cost a mint.

P.S. Don't forget 'Flipper'. And there was Ellery Queen with Jim Hutton and David Wayne. And of course Star Trek played right through the 70's along with Battlestar Galactica. For that matter I can remember Ray Rainer doing his show in the mornings (right before Bozo's circus) and he'd show episodes of the old Flash Gordon serials as part of his program. I'd watch while waiting to be picked up for school every weekday morning. And of course there were the friday night creature features followed by saturday morning movie series like Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan and Ma and Pa Kettle.

Yep, back then tv may not have been in its 'golden age' but at least there was something worth watching on the air. Now it's all 'reality shows' for the most part. If I want reality all I have to do is look out the window. Some classic shows are on DVD but they aren't always affordable. Who can afford to pay 50.00 per season for a tv program? You wonder how they manage to make a profit when shows are that expensive. Give me OTR any day. At least the shows are entertaining and don't cost a mint.

P.S. Don't forget 'Flipper'. And there was Ellery Queen with Jim Hutton and David Wayne. And of course Star Trek played right through the 70's along with Battlestar Galactica. For that matter I can remember Ray Rainer doing his show in the mornings (right before Bozo's circus) and he'd show episodes of the old Flash Gordon serials as part of his program. I'd watch while waiting to be picked up for school every weekday morning. And of course there were the friday night creature features followed by saturday morning movie series like Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan and Ma and Pa Kettle.

Charles,

I have the Jim Hutton shows. Those are great. You're the first person I've ever heard of that knows what the Ray Rainer show is. I thought that was only shown in my area and around Chicago.

Actually I was born in Rochelle IL. and spent my first 12 yrs there. Mom was born in Rockford and my dad was born on the family farm just outside Durand. I didn't know that Ray Reiner's show was so limited in its broadcast area.

Brad wrote:

crich70 wrote:

Yep, back then tv may not have been in its 'golden age' but at least there was something worth watching on the air. Now it's all 'reality shows' for the most part. If I want reality all I have to do is look out the window. Some classic shows are on DVD but they aren't always affordable. Who can afford to pay 50.00 per season for a tv program? You wonder how they manage to make a profit when shows are that expensive. Give me OTR any day. At least the shows are entertaining and don't cost a mint.

P.S. Don't forget 'Flipper'. And there was Ellery Queen with Jim Hutton and David Wayne. And of course Star Trek played right through the 70's along with Battlestar Galactica. For that matter I can remember Ray Rainer doing his show in the mornings (right before Bozo's circus) and he'd show episodes of the old Flash Gordon serials as part of his program. I'd watch while waiting to be picked up for school every weekday morning. And of course there were the friday night creature features followed by saturday morning movie series like Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan and Ma and Pa Kettle.

Charles,

I have the Jim Hutton shows. Those are great. You're the first person I've ever heard of that knows what the Ray Rainer show is. I thought that was only shown in my area and around Chicago.

The 1960s Batman series will always have a special place in my heart. It is one of the first TV series I remember watching as a child of 3 or 4 years old. It was campy, comic art by design and as such it succeeded admirably. Also, it has, hands down, the coolest Batmobile ever (Trivia note: it actually began life as a Ford concept/fantasy car for the show circuit in the late '50s called the Lincoln Futura).

The Tim Burton films, while darker, were masterpieces in their own right, especially the first one. Michael Keaton was excellent as Batman/Bruce Wayne, especially in the way that he portrayed each to illustrate the two sides of this complex character's personality. The dark, brooding, uber serious Batman was quite a contrast to the self-deprecating and somewhat flighty Bruce Wayne.

The two subsequent films were, at best, forgettable and the Christian Bale films took a while to grow on me, although I find them in some ways to be too graphic and gritty. And I hated Bale's Hummer-inspired Batmobile. It was a relief when it got blown up in "Dark Knight".

One of my favorite incarnations of Batman was the animated series from the 1990s. Largely inspired by Tim Burton's Batman films, its visual presentation also drew a good bit from the 1940s Superman cartoons. Although packaged as children's programming, there was plenty for adults to sink their teeth into with complex, well-developed characters and plots that were seldom simplistic. Mark Hamill's voicing of the Joker and Michael Ansara's Mr. Freeze are not to be missed.

As for a modern film adaptation of the Green Hornet, it will be interesting to see what they come up with. And the best thing viewers who remember earlier incarnations of it can do is go in with an open mind. Like skeptical Star Trek audiences earlier this summer--myself included--we might just be pleasantly surprised.

simonmagus wrote:

Britt Reid wrote:

Yes, no matter how they try they can't Improve on the originals.....In my humble opinion.

Look how many movies it took for them to get Batman at least watchable. Two awful movie serials (although I liked Lewis Wilson as Bruce Wayne)

The 1966 mockery. Then came the two Tim Burton films which cast Michael Keaton as the caped crusader. (the worst casting in history in my opinion.

But then came Val Kilmer (not much better) and that God awful George Clooney movie which should taken to the nearest nuclear storage facility and encased in plutonium so it won't be able to seen for a 100,000 years.

Finally two good films with Christian Bale but still they feel compelled to put him in that silly rubber frog man suit which is impossible to move or fight in. Why? They never do that to Superman!

So really I am still waiting for the perfect Batman film.

Now in defense of the original 1943 Batman serial with Lewis Wilson. True they made it for buck fifty and Batman's cowl looks like a flower sack with ears, plus it has that disgusting racism you have to over look.

But here is what I liked about it.
1. Batman's utility belt was gold in color like it is supposed to be. Not yellow plastic.
2. Alfred is thin, dark haired, balding with pencil moustache
3. Batman is a master of disguise. He uses it several times in the serial. Whatever happened to that idea? Once as a gangster named Chuck White he infiltrates the gang. He later gets unmasked but is still in disguise and they say 'It's Chuck White!"
4. Batman the scientist is depicted as he has his own crime lab in the Batcave.
5. The entrance to the batcave is through the grandfather clock just like the comics.
6. Batman and Robin are wanted by the police as vigilantes as they should be.

Ok glad I found a place to get all of that off my chest.

My point is once again there is no telling what we will see with The Green Hornet. Better take two aspirin before I go into the theater.

Later
Samuel Spulman
(author of "The Shadow of Simon Magus" www.amazon.com)